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Government to Take Call Regarding the PSU Shareholding, Says SEBI Chief

The government will need to take a call on whether listed public sector companies be exempted from the 25% minimum public shareholding rule, market regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India chairman Ajay Tyagi has said.

He also said Sebi will consider stricter norms for credit ratings agencies, mainly because they have failed to take timely action in the case of stressed companies, and that the National Stock Exchange (NSE) should ideally file revised offer documents for its initial public offer (IPO).

“DIPAM (department of investment and public asset management, under the ministry of finance) has represented to us on 25% minimum shareholding, but the government has to decide on this,” Tyagi said on Monday on the sidelines of an event organised by Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE), an organisation representing central public sector companies.

DIPAM had proposed that all listed PSUs must ensure that their public holding is minimum 25% by August 21, 2017. But a number of such firms are not likely to be able to meet the deadline.

The government is now contemplating extending the deadline to allow time to these PSUs, some officials said. The proposal to bring listed PSUs on par with private sector entities was announced in 2014. The final government decision will have implications on its divestment plan.